‘BRUISING’ DAY FOR JOHNNY
Troubling Heard pix seen; she defends her op-ed
Jurors at Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s bombshell defamation trial were shown photos of the bruised-up actress Monday — as she denied the op-ed at the heart of the case was about her ex-husband.
Heard’s attorneys showed several images of the actress with a red and swollen face from what she said was the troubled former couple’s last fight, in May 2016.
“This is my face after Johnny threw a phone at it,” Heard, 36, testified about the aftermath of the alleged brawl with Depp, 58.
The “Aquaman” actress also defended the 2018 essay she wrote in The Washington Post in which she referred to herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
“What, if anything, in this op-ed is incorrect?” Heard attorney Elaine Bredehoft asked.
“Nothing,” Heard answered. “Every word is true.”
“It’s not about Johnny,” she continued. “The only one who thought it was about Johnny was Johnny. It’s
about me. It’s about what happened to me.”
Depp is suing his ex-wife for $50 million over the column, which does not name him. He claims it clearly referenced allegations of domestic abuse Heard made when she filed for divorce after less than two years of marriage in May 2016 — and that it defamed him, causing harm to his career and reputation.
Team Depp’s slideshow
On cross-examination, Depp’s lawyers confronted Heard with several photos taken of the couple at public affairs after alleged violent fights — that showed her without any visible injuries.
One image showed Heard looking fresh-faced next to Depp at Spike TV’s “Don Rickles: One Night Only” special — the day after she claimed Depp possibly broke her nose following the 2014 Met Gala.
“For the record, I don’t know that it was broken,” Heard acknowledged under questioning by Depp attorney Camille Vasquez. “You should have seen how it looked under makeup.”
“Your nose doesn’t appear to be injured in any of these pictures?” the lawyer asked.
“I’m wearing makeup and makeup covers up swelling, right?” Heard answered.
Other photos produced by Depp’s team included the pair attending the 2015 Tokyo premiere of his comedy movie “Mordecai,” which followed an alleged fight, as well as stills from an appearance by Heard on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”
Heard claimed she had a split lip from a beating by Depp that she covered with lipstick at the time.
Earlier, during questioning from her own lawyers, Heard had detailed her makeup routine for the jury, even holding up a coverup kit.
“I’m certainly not going to walk around LA with bruises on my face,” she said.
Jurors were also shown a now-infamous photo of Heard with what appear to be bruises on her face — taken at an LA courthouse the day she filed for a temporary restraining order against Depp in May 2016.
Heard became emotional on the stand as she recalled how photographers “just surrounded me as I walked out of that courthouse” and “screamed horrible things.”
Depp has accused Heard of painting on a bruise with makeup that day, a claim she denies.
Heard explained why she decided to file for divorce that month despite Depp’s assurances that he was sober, that he was sorry and that he “wasn’t the monster.”
“I knew if I didn’t [divorce him], I likely wouldn’t literally survive,” she said. “I was so scared.”
Depp’s attorneys did get Heard to acknowledge that she never actually delivered on her pledge to donate her $7 million divorce settlement to the American Civil Liberties Union and a California children’s hospital.
“I use ‘pledge’ and ‘donation’ synonymously,” Heard testified.
“I don’t,” Vasquez shot back.